Skid Row - Skid Row

The last major success story to emerge from the hair metal era, and one of the best debut albums the genre ever produced. Released on January 24, 1989 on Atlantic Records and recorded at Royal Recorders in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with producer Michael Wagener, Skid Row arrived quietly and then exploded, eventually selling over five million copies in the United States and achieving five-times platinum certification from the RIAA.

The origin story is one of rock's best. Guitarist Dave Sabo and Jon Bon Jovi had been childhood friends in New Jersey and made a teenage pact that whoever broke through first would help the other get there. When Sabo co-founded Skid Row with bassist Rachel Bolan, fellow guitarist Scotti Hill, and drummer Rob Affuso in 1986, Bon Jovi was true to his word, helping the band secure management with Doc McGhee and a record deal with Atlantic. The final piece was a tall, Bahamian-born, Canadian-raised vocalist named Sebastian Bach, whose extraordinary range and complete commitment set Skid Row apart from every other band competing for attention on the circuit.

The album earned its success the hard way. "Youth Gone Wild" arrived in January 1989 on the strength of its razor-sharp glam-metal riffs and an enormous chorus, but it was the power ballads that took the record stratospheric. "18 and Life" reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. "I Remember You" peaked at number six. Both received heavy MTV rotation and introduced millions of listeners to a band that was simultaneously more polished and more dangerous than their peers. Beneath the ballads, the album was packed with gutsy hard-rock songs like "Big Guns," "Sweet Little Sister," and "Piece of Me" that marked Skid Row as something closer to Guns N' Roses than Warrant, placing them in a different and more durable category. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and the subsequent tour saw the band opening for Bon Jovi, appearing at the Moscow Music Peace Festival before a crowd of 70,000, and eventually supporting Aerosmith on their Pump tour.

One of the defining debut albums of its era, and still one of the most essential.